electrical prob

[b_sachwitz]

So this is what happened. I have a 86 944 na. It sat from march to june. It started right up I drove it a bit then shut it off. I went to start it back up about a minute later and nothing happened. The engine didnt crank. I charged the battery and tried again but when I turned the key to the start position I heard a buzzer going off in the fuse box, (it was not the door dinger I disconnected it) and none of the gauges or dash lights came on. what does the warning buzzer mean ( I saw it in the fuse box)? the starter/battery looked fine checked all the wires. any ideas what could be causing this. I read through the trouble shoot, I think its either ignition, wiring, or maybe a bad dme relay. any Ideas?

upon further reiview i found that the buzzing was coming from the ignition relay X in the fuse box. (#g14) is it supposed to buzz like that or is it a faulty relay? thanks

Ive been messing with it all day. it started twice. looks like when i turn the key to the start position either none of the gauges work and it doesnt turn over or i put a battery charger on it, turn it to 100amp start assist and try to turn it over but the guages go crazy and relays are popping all over the car, the injectors are going off, fuel pumps pumping, starter dont crank-just a click noise then nothing(theres power to it though i checked it). I dont know any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks

could it be DME?

[seaboltman]

I believe this sounds more like the DME Relay, rather than the computer its self... Use the search and look up what they have to say about DME relay failures

[b_sachwitz]

I did the relay check from clarks using the Y wires and putting them in the 87 87b and 30 socket but that didnt seem to do anything, it did shut off the open door dinger though. i'll keep trying to locate the problem tomarrow, maybe ignition switch?

[Razorback1980]

Ignition switch is a possibility but I would start somewhere else. The DME relay should not keep your starter from turning over. Check the voltage at the starter solenoid to make sure it's a full 12V. Then turn the key to start and check voltage at the smaller terminal on the starter solenoid for 12V. If you don't have 12V on the small terminal but do on the larger one, the switch key is probably the problem. If you don't have 12V on the starter solenoid larger terminal, then the positive battery cable is the problem. Don't forget to use your ohm meter and put one lead on the starter body and the other on the ground terminal of the battery...if your ohm meter doesn't read 0, then start cleaning grounds. It sounds like you have a dirty connection somewhere and probably not a faulty part....you just have to find out which connection. Don't forget to coat all cleaned connections with dielectric grease to prevent corrosion problems in the future. Since you don't have power to the gauges, I would suspect either the batttery ground cable (one or both ends) or the postive battery cable (one or both ends).

Hope this helps.

[SoCal Driver]

Relay X on the later 944's switches a large load that used to go through the ignition switch on the early 944's. Yours could be kaput. You can make a heavy gauge jumper and go between pins 30 (direct from the battery) and 87 (feed buss for most electricals) and bypass the relay. Don't leave the jumper in place with the car "off". Will drain the battery. There is the possibility of a wire short on the down stream side of this relay. You might want to have a 25 or 30 amp fuse in the middle of that jumper. With the proper volt meter you could check for a current draw before you use the jumper.

[b_sachwitz]

I tried to jump relay x it just made some other relays in the fuse box start clicking i dont know if thats supposed to happen or if i just did it wrong. I found that the battery ground was in real bad shape so i cleaned it up and now the guages and lights come on the dash when i try to start it. when i turn the ignition to start there is no power getting to the soleniod on the small pin, but on the big one ther is 12v. so does that mean ignition switch? now that i think about it the ignition is kind of wierd, I turn the key all the way to the start position the starter "clicks" and before i can turn it over again i have to turn the key all the way to the left (turning off the car) then try it again. is that normal?

[SoCal Driver]

Bad electrical connections at the battery and at the back of the engine where the grounding cables connect, are the source of most electrical problems. Clean the positive terminal too. The ten gauge red wires are where all of the cars power comes from. The large cable is just for the starter. Uses over 200 amps when it cranks the engine.

Cleaning the grounds, battery terminals and checking the battery acid/water level are the first things I look for when the starter clicks.

[Razorback1980]

Yes, it is normal for your key to do that.

The starter clicking is the solenoid trying to engage and turn the starter but not having enough voltage so it disengages. You have a bad connection somewhere or a bad ignition switch....unless you have a drained battery. Put a volt meter on your battery and have a friend watch the volts when you try to start it. If it falls below 12V, then check the water in the battery as SoCal suggested and if that doesn't keep it from falling below 12V on start attempt, replace the battery. If you have another battery you can put in there or if you can take the battery to an auto parts place where they can check it for you, the problem may be solved. I tried on mine to use a charger but was unsuccessful, I just had to replace the battery after the auto parts place checked it for me.

[b_sachwitz]

I checked the battery acid level looks good. Ill try to see if the battery drains on start up tomarrow. Im getting a new ignition switch too. itll be here friday. in the mean time Ill replace the clutch master cylinder, been leaking the pedal doesnt return all the time. thanks again for all the help.

[b_sachwitz]

I fixed it. It was the ignition switch. Thanks to everyone for all the help.